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February 23: Genesis 9:1-3
Key Verse: Genesis 9:2
The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.
Devotion:
One of the things I always used to wonder about was why animals always run away from humans. I started to think it was because of the way we treat them, but that only goes as far as a generation or until the animals have no contact with humans… Then I read this verse in the bible and it reminded me about how awesome our God is in everything!
Not only did He have a plan for everything and make sure the plan was executed, but He knew us before we were born and knew our wants and needs. For us to be able to survive He made sure there would be plenty of food available for us. Unfortunately mankind has all but ruined the ecological system God put in place and we struggle with all manner of foods nowadays. But the plan was there in the beginning and was set up by someone who knows exactly what we do need.
I have been enjoying trying out all sorts of foods they cook in China, Japan and Korea and it has amazed me how different the diets are compared to what I was used to. I must admit that I do feel a lot better eating a more varied diet; but what excites me more is knowing God had planned all of this out in the beginning! Each different country and society, even community, has its own specific likes and dislikes built up over generations of people. Each has chosen their own preferences from all of the food God has given us.
I will never look down on people who choose to live their lives differently because I know those differences are probably man made to start with – God gave us free choice in the beginning and He continues to uphold that free choice… If we abuse that choice then we have to live with the consequences, but if we abide by it and keep it close to our hearts, the God will continue to reward us as He has all the time!
Points to Ponder:
What are you favourite foods?
What are your favourite things to do for God?
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February 22: Genesis 8:20-22
Key Verse: Genesis 8:22
‘As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.’
Devotion:
I don’t know about you but I love the smell of cooking; well, most cooking smells, but some are not nice. I know this is not what is happening here, but that is the first thing which came to mind when I read the passage. When we look at what was happening, we see something which is very endearing. Noah was told to take some of the animals and sacrifice them to God… What does that mean? Well it means they were taken away from Noah as a food source and given to God. Noah was putting His families needs as well as his own need aside and giving it all to God!
That is a big deal! How often do you take your livelihood and offer it to God? How often do you take things which you need to survive and give them to God? I do try to give things to God, but I don’t give everything like Noah was doing here. God wants us to be confident in giving things to Him and knowing we will still be looked after by Him. This doesn’t mean we give everything to God and wait to see if He feeds us! This means we give what He asks and know He will cover our needs!
This comes down to the same sort of thing where Satan tempted Jesus to throw Himself off the ledge to see if God would catch Him… We don’t tempt God. But if God asks us to do something, we do it! Abraham was asked by God to offer his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. Abraham was obedient and was doing exactly that when God turned the tables and gave him an offering to use instead of Isaac.
If we can be confident in our faith like Noah and Abraham, then we too will see the awesome grace and mercy of God as He gives us what we need to fulfil His requests. It’s all about faith in God and obedience to Him. Noah and Abraham are extremes for our sake so we can see God is always going to give us our needs!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you totally trust God?
Will you listen out for God’s calling?
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February 21: Genesis 7:1-5
Key Verse: Genesis 7:4
Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.’
Devotion:
Have you ever got so mad at someone you did something totally out of character? I know I have done and said things I should never have when I got mad, and looking back at those times I regret them, but they happened because of situations which got out of hand at the time. After having such a great relationship with Adam and Eve, God had to endure total betrayal from them and for that He threw them out of the Garden of Eden.
When mankind continued to do more and more evil things against God, He could not throw them out of Eden because they were no longer there – but He could take away everything they had gained from their relationship with Him; after all they were certainly not acting like they were in any relationship with God any more! God had every right to be angry with the world because the world was working against Him and doing all manner of evil instead.
Noah had chosen to listen to God and to obey Him. Because of this Noah would have to face a very disturbing future, not because he had done wrong but because he was in proximity to the people who were doing wrong. This is one of the side effects of doing things wrong – we affect the people around us almost as much as we do ourselves and those closest to us. Noah would have to face the fact he and his family were going to survive when everyone else would not!
It is bad enough being picked out of a crowd, but when the whole crowd is going to get punished and you are not – things stand out a bit more. When I was in high school I often gave in and did what everyone else was doing instead of standing up for what was right just so I would not get labelled as a swat or goodie goodie! Noah chose to be different!
Points to Ponder:
Do you give in to peer pressure?
Will you stand up to be different for God?
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February 20: Genesis 4:6-10
Key Verse: Genesis 4:9
Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’
Devotion:
Can you think of an occasion where you got into trouble and the first things which came out of your mouth just didn’t make sense? When we are guilty of something and we try to cover things up, we get into more trouble and eventually make things worse for ourselves because we somehow think the truth is not going to get out. With God the truth is always going to come forward and He warns us of this.
All throughout the bible we see occasions where mankind has done some pretty stupid things because they think they can cover up the truth by telling a lie. The more the lies build up the taller the tower until it gets too tall and everything comes crumbling down in one big mess! The same can be said for most things in our lives and the more we try to get away with sin, the more we build up unsustainable towers which will eventually come crumbling down around us.
God wants us to own up to problems as soon as they are recognised. The quicker we can get to the truth and allow the truth to strengthen our positions, the better we will be off in the end. Yes there will be times when we have to face the consequences of our actions, but if we face up to them earlier, they may not be as big and bad as they can be if we continue to try and deceive instead of stating the truth!
Cain was given the chance to confess to what he had done out of greed and anger. Instead, he did the “very human thing” and told a lie to try and cover up his misdoings. The more he did this, the worse things got for him. There is nothing we can ever hide from God, so being honest and open with God from the beginning is always the best!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to cover up your problems?
Will you try to allow the truth to come out?
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February 19: Psalm 136:1-9
Key Verse: Psalm 136:2
Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures for ever.
Devotion:
If you have the time, stop and read through all 26 verses in this psalm; I have chosen the first few to illustrate the point I wish to make, but there is so much more to gain from reading the whole chapter. These first few verses solidify the idea of exactly who God is in our minds – or at least it should do!
All too often we take friends and family for granted because they are always there – you don’t have to ask them to stick around and you don’t have to go hunting for them when they go out because they are bound to come home… These verses reminded me of how we take God for granted in our lives. As a new Christian you will probably say all manner of prayers thanking God for what He does and you continually ask Him for a little bit more of everything…
But as you grow up and older as a Christian, you often get a bit too used to God doing things in your life and you stop asking Him so much. You start expecting Him to continue doing things for you even to the point of getting cross with Him when He does not do something! Each verse in this psalm reminds us to give thanks to God for everything He does. Each verse lists something He has or is doing and reminds us of His enduring love!
We don’t have to continue asking Him to love us, because he already does. But if we continue to thank Him for what He does do and continue to acknowledge Him for those things He has done, is doing and will do – then we are worshipping God and giving Him all the glory for our lives and for the lives of those around us.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you speak to God?
How often do you thank God?
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February 18: Hebrews 11:1-2
Key Verse: Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Devotion:
What happens when we loose faith in something? We can no longer trust it or believe in it because we can no longer see our hope leads to a conclusion… When the people of Israel were being guided through the desert by God, they continued to have faith whilst they could see the pillar of cloud and the pillar of light. But if they did not see the physical proof, they would lose faith in following God and start to wander off into worldly ways instead.
When we lose our trust in God, we lose so much in our lives! Imagine not being able to trust someone after they had done something wrong and broken that trust… But God does not break the trust but keeps His promises and shows us our faith in what He has promised is a sure thing… But we still allow doubt to come into our lives…
If we are able to put our trust in what God has said will happen, we show the world we have faith in God. When you can show the people around you that you have faith in something, especially in God, then they are encouraged to try and seek out what you know as the truth. This is the best way we can show anyone we have faith in God…
It all comes down to us saying we believe and showing we believe. That is what others will see as the measure of our faith. If we can show this to God, then our God will know our true feeling and will support us more in our lives.
Points to Ponder:
How much do you trust God’s Word?
Will you try and have a bit more faith in God’s Word?
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February 17: Mark 8:34-38
Key Verse: Mark 8:36
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
Devotion:
When Jesus told the disciples what a life of being a Christian would be like, they were probably very surprised to hear they would have to go through rough and tough times! Jesus was not one for dressing up the life they should lead and He certainly did not make it seem like His life was easy in any way.
When Jesus gave the command to go out and make disciples, these are the words the disciples may have remembered; why would Jesus say they would have to give up on their normal lives in order to become disciples? It is simply because we should be focused on what we are doing and not having second thoughts about things all the time. The worst thing to break down your faith is doubt! Jesus knows this and does not want us to have to face doubt because that weakens our faith.
How important is it to make sure you don’t have doubts? It is probably the most important thing about your journey with Christ. If you want to be a good disciples, you need to go out and make disciples! If you want to be effective with the task of making disciples, then you need to be able to show people the Gospel story without having doubts in your mind – those doubts show through!
Jesus wants us all to be as sure as possible in our relationship with Him. He wants us to be bold and confident in any dealings where we are talking about Him because our lives are a reflection of our life with Him. The best mirrors are the cleanest and most reflective mirrors. To be the best disciple we can, we should be the best reflection of Christ we can be!
Points to Ponder:
How reflective is your life about Christ?
Will you try to be the best reflection of Christ you can?
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February 16: Mark 8:27-33
Key Verse: Mark 8:33
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’
Devotion:
What has been the hardest thing in life for you to believe or understand? As a person with a scientific and engineering mindset, I have always looked for the practical answers to almost everything in life and have found most things to be explainable in some manner, but when it comes to the ways of the heart and spiritual ways, I find myself lacking in understanding and sometimes lacking in faith because of that!
Another thing I struggle with is biology and things concerning the body; my hat goes off to all the doctors and nurses out there who have an understanding on how the human body works!
So what do you do when you don’t understand? What do you do when you find yourself lacking the knowledge or wisdom to get through the next step you are trying to take? I found this out when I was in hospital because I had no idea how serious my illness was until I was well enough to speak to the doctors and nurses who looked after me – I then began to understand the seriousness of my situation! But, all throughout my stay in hospital, I knew God was looking after me and He was encouraging me to look for the positive and spiritual sides of everything.
When we don’t understand things we need to defer to someone who does understand and someone who knows what the outcome is going to be! I had no idea and so deferred to God because I had no idea. But for someone who has a partial understanding, it may have been a very different story! I find that with mechanical stuff – I know it is possible and I know there is a physical way forward, but sometimes I cannot see the wood for the trees!
Points to Ponder:
Do you give God a chance to explain things?
Or do you rush in and break stuff?
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February 15: Mark 8:22-26
Key Verse: Mark 8:26
Jesus sent him home, saying, ‘Don’t even go into the village.’
Devotion:
When you read verses by themselves you begin to wonder why Jesus did some of the things He did; this is why our study of the bible study should always take into account the whole bible and not just a couple of verses by themselves! Jesus was having a hard time with people in Bethsaida and because of that He took this man outside of the village before He did anything.
When Jesus performed the miracles He did, it was always to bring glory to God and to focus peoples minds on God. If He had stayed in the village and done the healing there, we don’t know what would have happened – but Jesus knew something would go amiss and so took the people out of the village.
Sometimes when we are faced with strife we need to take a step back and think of another approach rather than fighting against the local people. When we are faced with disagreement and conflict which we know will affect how people perceive the Gospel, we need to change our approach. We must not bring doubt into the equation when we are trying to tell people the truth. Jesus was doing the same thing here, knowing someone would disagree or make a scene, so He avoided the conflict and doubters altogether.
When Jesus had healed the man He told the man not to go back into the village and not even to tell them about what had happened outside the village. We can only imagine what was going on to force Jesus to come away from the village in the first place! We should be willing to stop and listen to what God is telling us through the Spirit and through Christ and through His Word; only then can we too avoid the disagreements and doubters who may affect our own faith.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get upset by people talking against God?
Will you try to avoid the doubters and see how your faith changes?
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February 14: Psalm 29:1-11
Key Verse: Psalm 29:7
The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.
Devotion:
When you were growing up, who had a voice which would strike fear into your soul when you heard them shout out? For me as a very young child it was my Dad’s voice which struck fear into me. If he had to raise his voice at me, I knew I was in big trouble!
When the Psalmist wrote these words, I wonder who he was thinking about to describe the voice of God in such a manner. He would have known what the people thought about God from growing up and learning from the scriptures. He would have heard how Moses described the voice of God and how His voice struck fear into many people’s hearts over the years. King David, assuming it was him who wrote these words, knew how dire it was to get on the wrong side of God and having a good knowledge of the history of Israel through the Old Testament meant He knew how serious it would be if God were to speak directly to him!
I think we often gloss over just who God is when it comes to our Bibles. We like to look at the side of God which shows His love and mercy which enables so much in our lives when we need Him, but not to be reminded of the power and might when we do something wrong! I think these words should be read from time to time to remind us of the power of God.
Think about any time when you have been told off for doing something wrong. Think of the feeling of being told you are wrong and knowing it in your heart. Think of the fear which drained the blood and feeling from your face when the fear overtook you. Then think of God’s power in a new light, the light of His wrath when we do things wrong.
Points to Ponder:
Do you always make excuses when you have done something wrong?
What would God say to you?